Proto Mortuary Sword

[Triarii]

All of the so-called 'proto-mortuary' swords I've seen to date have hilts with the same basic shape and with simple straight line decoration, with maybe a few more lines around where the blade goes through the hilt.

I got this one back in July, which has way more detail on the hilt. Sort of half way house to the well chiselled hilts of full so-called 'Mortuary' swords.

33" multi-fullered blade, which is 1/4" thick at the start of the spine. A false edge of c.9". Feels very handy indeed.

'Andrea Ferrara' and some initials in the fullers either side.

[Jim McDougall]

This is an extremely handsome example of these English half basket cavalry swords of early to mid 17th c. I honestly have not heard of the term proto-mortuary sword, as this goes in line with the death of Charles I of England who was executed in 1649 presuming the 'mortuary' hilt was commemorating that event. The term presumes the 'cavalier' style face typically in the motif of the hilt was the death mask of Charles I.

Interestingly that face appears carved into the pommel on this example.

The blade is particularly exciting as this dramatic fullering is evident on the finer examples of Solingen blades for the British market. Contrary to popular belief, the ANDREA FERARA blades were not confined to the Scottish market.
This one is triple marked following this convention often seen on Italian blades.

Unusual to see the very early wire wrapped leather over wood grip surviving.

These style hilts are known to have existed notably prior to the 1649 date typically regarded as the terminus ante quem for the 'mortuary', so this one dates presumably first half 17th c. FANTASTIC EXAMPLE!!!!!

[Triarii]

Very pleased with this one Jim. By far the most detailed hilt of its type and best I've seen.

'Proto-mortuary' is another convenient Victorianism (or later) term as these were assumed to evolve into the so-called 'mortuary' swords.
I asume that this is purely on the basis that simpler is assumed to mean earlier.

Noting that both Fairfax and Cromwell (particularly the one with the blade marked 'For the Commonwealth of England') had 'Mortuary' swords, I think the connection to the just and lawful execution of the Man of Blood is debunked. Yes, I'm a Parliament man...

Thanks for the comments on the fullering. I have a leaf-patterned sort of mortuary sword shaped hilt that has similar triple fullering.

[Jim McDougall]

Yours is certainly one of the finest examples I've seen!
Mine is pretty rough, but intact. I wish I had better pictures, so reminds me next time I 'visit' it to take better ones.

My example also has ANDREA FERARA blade with central fullers, when it was published in 'Bezdek' it was shown dating c.1642 by the author. It is decidedly rough, and the guard has separated from the pommel, but it is good for my 'historically' purposes.

The Andrea Ferara (Solingen) blades on our examples illustrates that these blades were by no means confined to the Scottish markets as mentioned.
The familiar spurious Spanish 'Espadero del Rey' mark is of course also a favored convention the Solingen makers added often.

The fullering on yours again is phenomenal. Could you post the other you mention? This is a good opportunity to discuss more on these 'mortuary' hilted swords.

[urbanspaceman]

Hello Folks. Mortuary swords are on my radar at present because I don't have one and I am torn between the odd and the exemplary. I have a Cavalier rapier (with a Toledo blade - remember Jim) that has a very similar hilt to the Mortuary but I have my eye on two examples of Proto style Mortuaries. The one has an unusual shell, the other a thumb ring, which is what I am leaning towards. It has the Green Man rather than the Cavalier head and I suspect will have been hilted on Islay which according to a reliable source is where many Mortuary swords were hilted.







ps
Your example Triari would have made my choice even harder.

[Triarii]

Jim, I really like your mortuary type sword with the thumb ring and no inner guard. There was one up for auction a few years back from that guy in Market Harborough who ran an antique shop and used to show people his own collection - they were all slightly coated in new red rust. I went for the Schiavona instead. Still kick myself.

Oddly, thumb rings are a continental thing, so seeing them on typically English hilts is odd. Having said that, the one in the Cleveland Museum of Art attributed to Fairfax has a thumb ring, as does one of the swords attributed to Cromwell in the museum in Huntingdon.

Urban - I've never heard the Islay thing before. Can you elaborate please?

PS I have one like the first of your photos, with the perforated shell guard. It caught my eye because of the cabalistic markings it had on the blade. They're reckoned to be continental in origin, apparently.

[Jim McDougall]

Triari, actually the thumb ring example was one of the two posted by Keith,
mine is the rather worse for wear one with the guard detached from pommel due to corroded metal. But thank you for the kind words.

As you note, the thumb ring feature is typically a Continental convention, and uncommon for English swords. However these sometimes occurred on hilts from northern Europe, i.e. Netherlands, which would put them in the conduit of swords and blades going into Great Britain. The groups of families in the border regions in north England known as Border Reivers were quite diverse in their allegiances, fashion, arms etc. Their weapons even included schiavona and many Continental arms forms.
As you note, such features were well known in incidental cases, the Cromwell instance for example.

The new rust circumstance might well have been from a change in the environment with the weapon moved into a new context and out of its original setting. This type of difference in the corrosion or deterioration of a weapon such as deep pitting on one side, less on other is an example.

The so called cabalistic motif on blades seems of basically European popularity which situated in Eastern Europe with astral and occult symbols, devices along with religious motif etc. These conventions with British sword blades seem to have evolved from 'hunting swords' in mid to late 17th through 18th c. which had to do with talismanic properties. French blade engravers in Nantes also were source for many of these types of motif, prompting imitation in England.

The Islay 'thing' is something only super-sleuth Keith could have found as he has explored British sword making as few others, and found I believe that there were makers of mortuary style hilts on Islay. There is virtually nothing known of these kinds of sword related industry in the Isles, so I too would like to learn more.

[urbanspaceman]

While leaving no stone unturned during my early search for an accurate history of the German swordmakers of Shotley Bridge I came across a very well regarded Tyneside writer and collector from the first half of the 20thC called Robert Coltman Clephan who, while predominantly concerned with plate armour, published this tersely entitled work
THE DEFENSIVE ARMOUR AND THE WEAPONS AND ENGINES OF WAR
OF MEDIÆVAL TIMES (available from the Guttenberg press. KF).
Reading it I came across this statement:
"The “mortuary” hilt, so named from a number of swords with this basket-hilt having been made in memory of King Charles I., was the broadsword of the Commonwealth, and the Scottish basket hilt is obviously an amalgamation of the schiavona with the mortuary… which is certain from the fact that mortuary hilts were largely made on the island of Islay..."
Having a comprehensive knowledge of Islay after numerous visits to their numerous distilleries I was academically stimulated by the discovery of a shrouded part of the island's history. Add this to the reported habit of calling early basket hilts "Irish" made me wonder even more. I should note that these Hebridean isles were home to the Irish descended Dalriada (another history lost in time). But not having any pertinence to my project in hand I put this curiosity on the back-burner for future reference. Here's the future; it's time to lift the kilt.
What follows is the first information I came across. 
CLAN MACARTHUR.
A prominent contingent of the clan are the MacArthurs of Islay just to the west of Argyll and holding lands at Proaig just south of the aptly named McArthur's Head lighthouse. The MacArthur name is still extensive on the island today.
The MacArthurs of Proaig were hereditary armourers and Pipers to the McDonalds of the Isles which suggests a presence on the island from well before the end of the Lordship in 1493 and an ancestral presence which could predate the founding of the Lordship which ruled from Finlaggan on northern Islay from the 12th century.
Then there was this: The Royal Commerce Directory of Scotland shows that Ronald McArthur, blacksmith and golf club maker (the Islay MacArthurs were the world's first to manufacture golf clubs) was operating in Port Ellen as late as 1903. He died in 1921 at the age of 65, so it's likely that the forge continued up until World War I. His father, James McArthur was the previous blacksmith for Port Ellen and likely would have learned from his father, a blacksmith in the Kildarton region, prior to the founding of Port Ellen forge. There is an R. McArthur of Port Ellen listed as killed in WWI; if he was Ronald's son or grandson that would have been the end of the McArthur blacksmith line for Islay.
Their history is not left behind on Islay however: the clan's contingent in Lochaber invented the iconic Lochaber Axe; and the Skye branch taught the world to Pipe. So, back to Mortuary hilts:
TBC

[urbanspaceman]

NB:
apropos of this mention of the schiavona I will interject here with this pertinent information:
One of the solutions to Border Reiving was to encourage the leaders to remove the problem. In 1603 Walter Scott of Buccleuch took 2,000 Reivers to fight “The Belgic Wars” and to become mercenaries in Europe’s religious and political conflicts. As a consequence, the presence of schiavone amongst local Border Reivers becomes perfectly understandable.

[urbanspaceman]

I asked at the Islay History Museum for someone who might be able to illuminate this issue and was directed to the (now retired) principle historian in the museum. He knew nothing about any of it and he is the most significant historian on the island (which has a population of a mere 3,000).
It has been lost, I'm afraid, as I left this history with him earlier this year with his promise to tell of anything he unearthed.
Anyone interested in this wonderful island can find a very satisfactory essay on Wikipedia, which also touches on the history of the Dalriada. This essay will help to establish the reason for an armoury on the island for hundreds of years and the strong probability that Mortuary hilts were, in fact, made there.